Stump the Panel: SharePoint Q&A

Hello all!

This may be a basic question, but I cannot figure it out. I have a document library which I am displaying on a page in the document library web part. What I need to do, though, is be able to filter it so that only a dynamic number of documents are returned, which have the latest date (MAX date) in a PERIOD ENDING column. So, if the latest date is 8/6/2010, I want all documents with that date in that field to be returned. In any Office product, this is no problem. SharePoint, a different story.

We are using MOSS 2007, Office 2007, and are using it COMPLETELY out of the box, so no custom coding.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Troy

By MAX date do you mean the last date in the series of dates in the list?

If so then I dont think you could filter the list using a zero code solution.

You can certainly get the MAX value by editing the view and in the Totals section you can MAXIMUM the date field but to filter directly against it would be quite tricky (read requries customisation either with coded solution or SPD).

If you cant use a coded solution or SharePoint Designer, you could use the view in excel function that SharePoint offers.

Well, not necessarily the LAST date, but the LARGEST or MOST CURRENT date. I've already tried the totals section, and while it displays the maximum date, it still shows all of the records, which I don't need. The only way I could use a coded solution, would be without using SPD, and without it being a server-side change...So we are very limited.

Troy

Troy, Try a web part connection (no Sharepoint Designer needed.) Add another view of the same list to your page, modify the title of the web part to "filter by period ending date" It sounds like you have multiple records returning for each day, so group them according to your PERIOD ENDING date, and only show that date in the view. Then limit those groups to 2 or 3, it is a setting just below the grouping option. Keep the groups collapsed. If you are following me, you'll realize you'll have 2-3 days of grouped dates on your screen in one web part, below it you have your library with all your docs. Sort both lists by most recent. Now, in edit page mode, under the Modify Shared web part, is the option of Connections. From this newly created grouped dates list use a web part connection to 'provide row to' your document library to use the PERIOD ENDING dates from the grouped list as a filter for the main doc library (make sure PERIOD ENDING is displayed in both views.) Once the connection is made, you can expand the group and click the date underneath, that will act as a filter to your document library below.

I just submitted an article on this topic late last night, if you can't follow my suggestions here, the pictures in the article might help. You can probably find it on EUSP in the next 7-10 days.

Thanks, Kerri - I definitely follow. I actually tried that using a SharePoint List Filter WP, with a list that only had 1 record in it which was the period ending date I needed. That would work, as would your solution, except that I need this selection to be a constant, and not dependent on the user selecting it in order to be filtered. My audience will be up to a high executive level, so I need to ensure that they have one single web part to go to, to get the information, without having to do any interaction such as selecting the date to act as the filter.

Another complication is that the person I will delegate the duty of updating the period ending parameter will not have page edit rights. They will have contribute access only.

I have been playing around with getting a workflow to loop through the library to determine the largest date, and add some type of indicator in a column I've added, but I haven't yet gotten it to work. I'm thinking that's my best bet, so that I can then filter the web part on that indicator, and it will always display only the needed info. Any help on a looping workflow to compare the period ending dates would be helpful.

Troy

Just a follow-up on this topic, I ended up simply adding an "indicator" column to the library, and just filter on that column. That way, whatever documents I want to show up will. Even though it's a manual solution, it takes very little time to change the indicators. :)